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BREAKER BREAKER - Out of Service CD

Breaker Breaker were what I'd consider to be a "2nd Tier" band of early 2000's hardcore. While I always enjoyed them, they were never as fully realized or as influential as their contemporaries. In fact, you can pick out the influence of their peers in their songs. Luckily, those same bands are among my favorites of the era and my only complaint is that there weren't enough bands playing that style of what a friend of mine would refer to as "tragic" hardcore. Sadly, Breaker Breaker only released a demo (later repressed as a 7" on Bridge 9) and this posthumous EP, Out of Service, for Martyr Records.

Musically, Breaker Breaker rarely tread too far outside the realm of straight forward hardcore, but they write great songs that are fast and pissed with bummer lyrics. What really impresses me is how harsh and desperate singer Mark Kelley's voice sounds. It's unique how every word is strained, seemingly on the verge of collapse and it's even more apparent on Out of Service than their demo. They elevated everything a bit on this EP - the riffs, the breaks and their lyrics. I'm interested to know what direction they would have taken had they continued to write, but unfortunately they broke up before their time. Kelley also went on to sing for Treason, who put out a great demo and seemed to vanish as fast as they'd come.